A Northern Lights Christmas
by Windlass
Summary: Happy AU fluffy Christmas! Remember when Andy and Sam were discussing where he would go if he wanted to get away, to hide? A brief out of province assignment to escort a suspect back to Toronto brings Sam and Andy to Nunavut, and causes some last minute changes in their Christmas holiday plans. One shot.


**For Kate. Another year nearly over, and life has been and continues to be very interesting for me to say the least. After a long absence, I thought I'd attempt to write a fluffy AU Christmas one shot from a few suggestions by Kate and some ideas from the show. Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone! :) I do not own Rookie Blue.**

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><p><strong>December 23<strong>

"It can't be helped. I need someone to head up North to escort the suspect back to the city, and you fit the bill,"

"Sir," he began, but swallowed his words knowing better than to protest to John Jarvis. As stand- offish as Jarvis had been all this time, and as determined to find a reason for what he saw as 'incompetence' in this Division, Sam Swarek had to give him credit for his single-mindedness (maybe even dedication) in getting his mission accomplished.

Inspector John Jarvis turned his steady gaze upon Sam. "Any questions, Swarek?"

"I want Officer McNally to come with me,"

"Sure. If she wants to,"

Too easy. A smile slipped across Sam's lips. Maybe he could salvage their Christmas holidays after all.

Back at her apartment, Andy had just gotten out of the shower and was in only a bath sheet when, from out her bedroom window, she saw Sam's truck pull up in the parking lot. She dried off and pulled on her favourite skinny jeans and long sleeved t-shirt, then went to do her hair.

"McNally!" Sam called from inside the doorway. He took off his winter jacket and slung it over the back of the chair and made his way down the hallway to her room. She greeted him with a peck on the cheek.

"Everything okay?" Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Fine."

"Sam? What's wrong?"

"Okay, here's what's happening. I'm travelling to Nunavut tomorrow and won't be back until Boxing Day," he said.

Sam turned then and walked out of her room back toward the kitchen.

"What? What about our plans for Christmas?" Andy followed him down the hall to the kitchen where he sat on a bar stool.

"Jarvis wants me to bring back a suspect...says I'm the man for the job."

Andy played with some of her hair now, her forehead furrowed in thought and dismayed at the news.

"Can't someone else..." she stopped when Sam looked at her.

"The good news is you get to come with me." He flashed her one of those really quick smiles, the ones that said, _'Bear with me, I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation.'_

"To Nunavut at this time of year? Are you crazy?"

Disarming her protestations, he walked to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Crazy about you, yes."

Andy frowned.

"Oh come on, McNally, so our plans here are shot, " Smooch.

"We could still have a nice Christmas there, right?" He kissed her again, this time longer. She was beginning to get that tingly, warm feeling as she so often felt when Sam kissed her.

He moved some hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear. "What do you say?" Yet another kiss. She felt his breath on her neck and wanted to melt into his arms.

Andy sighed, but soon smiled at the possibilities. At last she gave her answer. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to, Sam," she teased, pressing a finger into his chest. "But yes, I'll go with you to the Arctic."

He smiled.

With eyes closed, Andy kissed him gently, caressing his face with her fingertips as if to memorize every feature. "I'll ask Traci to check in on the tree and water it while we're gone."

"We'll only be gone two days, you know," Sam murmured in between kisses.

"I know, but I would feel better..."

"Suit yourself, McNally."

**December 24**

They landed at the small northern airport the next afternoon. It was dark out when they arrived, yet it was only 2 p.m. Strange how the sun rose at 9 and set at 1. Andy grabbed her bag from the baggage conveyor belt while Sam searched for his. Seeing it, he reached for it and was soon ready to go. A cab dropped them off at their hotel.

After a late lunch, Andy proceeded to their room while Sam made arrangements to meet the staff sergeant of the local RCMP detachment to discuss the plans regarding the suspect escort on Boxing Day.

'Tonight is Christmas Eve,' he thought as he hailed a taxi. Andy was at the hotel, exploring her options for what this town had to offer. He knew she'd probably go shopping. He smiled to himself at the thought of McNally out shopping on Christmas Eve day and how lucky he felt that they were back together. This would be their first Christmas. He was determined to make it all worthwhile.

The meeting with the staff sergeant went better than expected and soon he was heading back to the hotel, foregoing the taxi this time and opting to walk instead. It was a rather mild -10C.

"Andy?"

"Yup, just in here trying something on," Sam peeked into the bathroom to see her sitting on the edge of the bathtub.

"Everything is planned out for Boxing Day, so I'm officially off duty as of right now," he said.

He left her in the bathroom and leaned against the headboard, a pillow propped behind his head, and flipped through the channels looking for something interesting to watch.

"I'll be right there." She eventually came out of the bathroom wearing a very nice pair of light brown mukluks with fur pompoms dangling off the side. "What do you think?" she asked, showing off some new winter boots.

"Nice mukluks. Are they authentic?"

"Of course they're authentic," she said, showing him the tag. "It says, _'Real deerskin suede, and lined in sheepskin'_. It also says they're good for -30C. I got them for a really good price."

She sat down on the bed beside him. He touched the fur on the mukluks. "I don't even want to contemplate minus thirty right now. So what else have you been up to besides shopping for mukluks?"

In fact, Andy had done some shopping, and as fate or luck would have it, she discovered a special Christmas tourist package which consisted of travel, food and accommodation to see the Aurora Borealis. She pulled some brochures out of her purse and handed them to Sam, eager to see the expression on his face.

"Oh wow, McNally! The Northern Lights," he said, flipping excitedly through the shiny tourist-y pamphlets. He sat up straight.

She was delighted with his reaction.

"I thought it would be really cool to see them, you know, out in the middle of nowhere. There is a Christmas Eve tour, leaving the hotel tonight at 9. We will be going for a long drive to a dark sky area, you know, far away from the artificial street lights and all. There's a hunting lodge where we will all sleep tonight and tomorrow morning, Christmas Day, we head back to the hotel. So pack some stuff..."

He looked at her in amazement. "You know, seeing the Northern Lights has always been on my bucket list of things to do. I didn't think we'd be here long enough to be able to do that this time,"

She nodded. "I remember you saying that, so that's why I signed us up. Anyway, what are the chances the weather being perfect for a Northern Lights display? Besides, it's Christmas and we were brought up here for a reason, so I thought it would be nice to do something memorable. It's not like we'll be back here any time soon,"

Sam grinned. "I love how you think," he whispered in her ear.

They had a few hours to spare before their trip out to the lodge. Sam checked the weather channel for the temperature and sighed. "Gonna be crisp out tonight," he said.

Several hours later, the tour group arrived safe and sound at their destination and all had just enough time to find their rooms and meet back in the lobby for the start of their tour.

Sam meanwhile, under guise of having forgotten his toque in the room, left Andy waiting with the others. Once in their room, he dug around in his bag to find the pretty little package all wrapped in gold that he'd remembered to bring along for this trip; making sure he had it close by. He tucked it into the deep inner pocket of his winter coat, pulled on his mitts and woollen hat, and headed back to the group.

They stood, all of them in a group, necks craned upwards taking in the spectacular sky. It was all he ever dreamed it would be. "Does whistling really cause the red and green streaks to dance?" someone asked. Sam smirked inwardly. 'I'd like to see you try puckering up to whistle in this cold,' he thought to himself. Still, wanting to know the answer, he listened carefully as the tour guide gave an interesting explanation deeply rooted in Inuit folklore.

Later that night, or more correctly in the early hours of Christmas Day, back in their room at the hunting lodge, Sam handed an unsuspecting Andy one of her presents. She opened the gift, her fingers carefully pulling a delicate 14 karat gold chain with a 14 karat key pendant from the tiny white box.

"Remember?" he asked as he watched her. He reached over to help her fasten the tiny clasp around her neck.

"I do remember. Thank you, it's gorgeous."

They slipped into their queen sized bed. It was now close to 2 a.m.

She briefly fingered the little key as it rested on her chest. How thoughtful (and somewhat persistent) of him to get her that. It was his way, she knew, of reiterating that he loved her with his whole heart and that she held the key to it. It brought tears to her eyes.

"Merry first Christmas, Sam." she whispered.

He reached for her hand, his fingers intertwined with hers. "Merry first Christmas, sweetheart, and thank you for such an amazing gift tonight,"

"You're welcome. The rest of your gifts are under the tree at my place, by the way."

"Yep. Ditto. We really need to do something about that, don't you think? My place, your place. I'm finding it all rather inconvenient," he said matter of factly, trying to keep his lips from curling up into a broad smile. Only the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. He quickly turned off the lamp on the nightstand.

"And what exactly do you mean by _that_, Sam?" she asked after a few minutes, her curiosity now roused. She remembered what he'd said that morning a while back when he attempted to give her his house key.

He rolled over on his side drawing the blankets up to his ears, certain he'd given her much to think about. "You'll just have to wait and see. Good night, McNally," he teased.

To his surprise she didn't press him any further. "Good night, Sam," was all she said as she snuggled contentedly against his back, her arm draped over him.

**The End**


End file.
